Referee scandals, criminal activity among players, low ratings. What is going on with the NBA?

I am a basketball junkie. I love the game, and I will watch the NBA almost, no matter what. However, everyone is not like me. With the ref scandal going on at the moment, that alone will probably cause a few NBA fans to fall off the bandwagon.

Mr. Stern was thrown a serious curve with the current mess with Mr Doneghy. Although the current state of the NBA is not flourishing, Stern was riding the hopes of turning the corner, with his new rules and big time international flavor coming on the scene. Now in damage control mode, his job may be hanging in the balance.

I don`t think this league is ready to fold, but it is in need of some work. IMO, the next couple of seasons will tell us how successful the NBA will be going forward.

How can it be fixed????

__________________
"We are going to be really good offensively and definsively, we are going to be a team that can beat you 120-110, or beat you 80-70" Coach Michael Curry on the 2008-2009 Pistons.

I would really like to see the NBA adopt a more international standard and take its place at the forefront of the world basketball stage instead of this isolationist entity.

__________________

Thats a great point. It also has not been lost on the common fan how poorly USA basketball has been doing lately.

Clean up the game. Strive for consistancy and get rid of the superstar calls and the refs who think they are above the game. They can tout all their 95% accuracy claims all they want but the fan knows how much calls fluctuate on a gamely basis.

All games should look the same call wise. If something is a travel or a charge then is should not matter who is playing or where its being played at.

I would also like to see a change in advertising to stop playing up to the pin head fans. You know the type. They person who may or may not watch an ABC game and never buys tickets to see their home team. Why is this fan more important than anyone else? Because there are more of them?

Lot of pure sportsfans out there who will not watch the NBA. Try to get them to watch and also focus on keeping your hardcore fan base in tact.

Arrogance

That's the problem with the NBA. Look at the NFL, they never, ever take the fans for granted. They have a great product, and they do everything to make it better.

Stern thinks he doesn't have to worry about the fans, bad refs? You're a conspiracy nut.

Well, now, he has to.

All of these things gone wrong could potentially produce something of a windfall to the loyal consumer in the form of incentives for continued patronage. Of course this depends on just how bad things become and subsequently how strongly negative the fan & corporate reaction. Stay tuned.

This sounds great, but unfortunately, you got to play for the pinheads too. Hey, not every fan of the Pistons pays all that much attention to the minor details. They are no less fans though. They go to the games, maybe drink a little too much, but they go to the games. They pay for the tickets. They support the team. And they love the team every bit as much as the most knowledgeable fans. It is entertainment after all. So yes, you got to be entertaining. I do think you can be entertaining without being dishonest. Hey, sure, if you want to increase the scoring, make the calls more in favor of the offensive player. Move that circle out a bit. Move the 3 point line in a bit. Change the blocking rule to where the defensive player has to be there, and actually be stationary, when contact occurs. No more sliding over and causing contact when the offensive player has you beat. Those are always questionable calls. Call them all for the offensive player. But call the call the same for all players. Home team. Away team. Superstar. Rookies. The refs should be blind to where they are, or who is popular. Call things consistently.

Great point.

One thing I like about the NFL is, they promote TEAM, not the individual.

Hell, you wear a helmet in the NFL, take it off you get a penalty. The NFL is about team play the NBA focus is one the individual superstar player.

Good points.

There is what a team does to attract fans and what the league does. Someone who forkes out the cash to see a couple of games a year knows enough to know what he/she sees.

What I was mainly referring to are the would be fans that are not quit fans yet. This is what the league seems to target more than anyone else. Thats why they have all the cut-aways and side line interviews, assuming a low attention span.

If the low ratings of the Finals over the past 2 years showed anything it showed that there are not enough pin heads around to buy all their BS.

It really surprises me the way that this is being handled by the NBA and media because gambling is a disease resulting from a genetic foul up in people with this affliction.

CNN - Compulsive gambling a genetic disorder? - September 5, 1996

Overlapping Genetic Factors in Pathological Gambling and Major Depression

IngentaConnect Genetics of Pathological Gambling

I'm more interested in the windfall in quality of competition.

Definitely a diehard, but have become somewhat disenfranchised by the direction the league has taken in the last 10 years with it's marketing, promotion and management.

I still think there is a latent smugness, which is why it is important to keep the heat on the league to promote change. Bureacratic institutions (which the NBA league office has become) are unbelievably resistant to change.

That said, I'm optimistic that from now on when I call in to the Pistons postgame radio show, the host won't dismiss the referee bias rants as easily, which should increase my call volume.

__________________
Momma was queen of the mambo, Poppa was king of the congo, deep down in the jungle, I start banging my first bongo
Every monkey like to be, in my place instead of me, cause I'm the king of bongo baby, I'm the king of bongo bong
-Manu Chao